Why hasn’t Theoren Fleury made it into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

It’s Hall of Fame Induction Day today, as Sergei Makarov, Eric Lindros and Rogie Vachon join the elite group of male hockey players that have been inducted into the hallowed halls of hockeydom. Annually around this time, conversation turns to stellar National Hockey League players that are not yet in the Hall of Fame.

Most frequently mentioned by Calgary Flames followers: Theoren Fleury. Just 5’6″ and 160 pounds with his gear on, and besieged by horrible off-ice problems illustrated in his book Playing With Fire, Fleury nonetheless put together a tremendously productive professional career. So how come he’s not yet in the Hall? The short answer, it seems, is that his retirement had some awful timing given the other players who were eligible at the time.

To illustrate that, let’s look at the 27 male players that have been inducted instead of Fleury since he became eligible for induction.

Fleury never won a major individual trophy in the NHL. The players inducted since he became eligible in 2009 generally have better resumes than he does for a few reasons.

Most of these guys have a bunch of hardware, both in terms of Stanley Cups and individual trophies. Out of the players with no significant individual hardware, all had longer professional careers (in terms of games) than Fleury and amassed more points. Sergei Makarov also has the historical significance of being a really great Russian player.

First-time eligible players for Hall of Fame induction in 2017 include Teemu Selanne, who’s a slam dunk, and Daniel Alfredsson, who has a strong case. Beyond that? Mark Recchi, Dave Andreychuk, Pierre Turgeon, Jeremy Roenick, Bernie Nicholls, Vincent Damphousse and Rod Brind’Amour all have more career points than Fleury.

How do they compare to Fleury in a wider sense?

Based on electing guys with long careers with a lot of pretty good seasons but no super-elite years (Ciccarelli, Oates, Howe, Sundin, Modano, Housley), it seems like Fleury’s in tough over the next year or two of Hall of Fame voting. Selanne is a lock, while Alfredsson will likely be voted in, leaving just two spots for 2017.

There have been stronger candidates for the Hall of Fame than Fleury for every year of his eligibility so far, and there are enough eligible players that have as good a case as he does for induction that the next couple years could continue to see Fleury get shut out of the Hall.